North Dakota Farmers Union Calls for Acceleration of MFP Payments

The NDFU President Mark Watne says farm families need the payments now.

JAMESTOWN, N.D.–The North Dakota Farmers Union called for acceleration of Market Facilitation Program payments to farmers impacted by the trade war with China on Wednesday.

In August, farmers who enrolled in MFP received 50 percent of a calculated payment for crops covered under Title 1 of the Farm Bill. The USDA has said a second payment of 25 percent would be paid in November and a third in January if the market conditions failed to improve.

The NDFU President Mark Watne says farm families need the payments now. He says, “the farm economy is worsening” and flooding has made “harvest virtually impossible.”

Watne has urged producers to continue submitting documentation to the state’s congressional delegation in light of the USDA’s WHIP Plus program that assists producers with losses due to excessive moisture and snowfall.

Currently, 42 of 51 counties in North Dakota are designated as disasters.